Everything Dolphin: No subject is taboo, no deadlines, no space crunch.

Monday, June 18, 2007

A look at Trent Green's deal

The Trent Green contract has finally been submitted to the NFL Players Association and what follows below is a breakdown of the deal that will be worth $13.5 million over three years, assuming Green will be in Miami the entire length of the contract.

What I see here is a huge commitment to Green this year with that shrinking each year, making it more likely he'll be a cap casualty as the contract (and the player) ages.

For instance, the Dolphins would be on the hook for a $666,334 cap hit next year (plus whatever bonuses accelerate from this year) should they decide Green is no longer their guy and someone else, such as John Beck, needs to be the starting quarterback. The team would save approximately $3.1 million in cap charges by cutting Green before next season's bonuses start coming due.

In 2009 the cap savings after cutting Green would be even greater -- approximately $4.1 million -- in a year Green will be 39 years old.

Now that does not guarantee Green will be cut next year of the one after. There are performance factors on both his part and Beck's that will be weighed before that decision can be made. There are other variables as well such as which direction the franchise takes between now and then and who is driving the ship.

In that regard, assuming Green is playing at top form, the Dolphins are winning, and you guys are happy, this contract is not a bitter pill that Miami would hate to swallow in 2009. It's a good job by Miami's negotiating team of walking the line between a rosy future and one that is less so.

In other words, the Dolphins have protected themselves should Green tank or Beck boom in that they can cut Green pretty easily as early as next year. But they have also shown foresight to be able to keep Green if he plays out of his mind this year and beyond.

I read on another fan site (Phinfever) that the $3.4M bonus is prorated $200k per week if Green is active. If this is true I'm surprised you didn't mention it. Seems like management has protected us against injury as well as allowing the term to run anywhere from 1 to 3 years. It's also a good sign that Green is confident enough in his health and abilities to bet a lot of money of it.

CaMueller have a plan that makes sense and they are executing it as well as possible when all the other teams don't always cooperate in terms of draft picks and trades. I wouldn't be surprised to see some regression this year as the offensive line learns and grows, but 2008 and 2009 should be fun years for us long-time fans.

A work bonus is a bonus a player gets for attending practices and training camp. He won't get a 100k for each one just a percentage and if he attends all practices and training camp by the end of the season the total amount paid will not be more than 100k in work bonuses.

Actually Tommy when you look at this contract, it CONFIRMS that the Dolphins were putting all their eggs in the Trent Green basket this season -- competition be damned.

If they had planned to have a competition, one that he might have actually lost, they never would have given him a cap number as large as $5.34 million. They never would have paid him a $1 million signing bonus, and they never would have gone with a $3.4 million roster bonus.

Look at it this way, Trent Green and Daunte Culpepper compete for the starting job. Green loses so he's No. 2. He's still on the roster and he gets the bonus. Cut him, you say? You're still on the hook for the $1 million and the workout bonus.

Green's the starter unless he looks HORRIBLE in all caps AND either Beck or Lemon is just lighting it up in the passing game. I am suspect on Green's health since once a guy gets a bad concussion it seems like he's more likely to get them again and again to where its just a recurring problem. And behind this OL we got coming into training camp I'd be nervous about him making it through half the season before he has to sit out a game or two. But if he's healthy Green definitely gives us our best shot of winning amongst those QBs. And if he's not up for it i think the money is right to dump him after the season.

I disagree Trent Green is not worth 5.33 million so please don't say he's getting what he's worth!!! Why do you think Miami was the only team trying to get him?? Because no other team was willing to pay him so much, and since you seem to think Cam wasn't lying , do you really think he'll make Trent Green sit the bench and make all that cash, even if Cleo has a Peyton Manning preseason??PLEASE LAY OFF THE DRUGS IF YOU DO!!!!!

He's making starter money because he already has the starting job in his pocket!!!!

fuJ Dizzle, you are correct that there will be no competition for the starting QB spot...that is Green's job....and it should be. Green is and has been a better QB than Culpepper. He gives us the best chance of winning today while grooming Beck for tomorrow. Their games are similar. He is the best candidate for the job. You obviously love Culppeper but his questions marks are much greater than Green's. And as for paying another QB big buck, its Huizenga's money so what do you care.

I don't care about the money!!! But I do want folks to stop trying to say Cam isn't a LIAR!!! And yes I'm a Daunte supporter but I'm past that!! I'm talking about the fact when Cam was first hired he said and I qoute" I would never just give the QB job to anyone it has to be earned"

Another straight from his mouth qoute about him evaluating Duante "Again asked about Culpepper's status, coach Cam Cameron remained noncommittal.

''For me to make an evaluation of a guy I've never seen play with my own two eyes, I'm not going to go there,'' Cameron said.

``I feel like I've been around enough quarterbacks, and that's the way you do it. That's what serves the player and us the best.''

But what if the Dolphins feel they need to make a decision before he's 100 percent?

''You don't necessarily,'' Cameron said.

Because he knew who his starter was already!!!!! He is no better than Saban!!! He was on TV telling bold face lies and Cam is doing the same!!!

Good points!!!All except no other team wanting to sign him to compete for the starting job!! Jacksonville has shown the most interest and with Byron's questionable bill of health Duante will be competing for the starting job in Jacksonville soon as the Dolphins are forced to release him. But like I've been saying for weeks I don't like or agree with this new regime, but I'm gonna play the wait and see role!!! Hell I want to be proven wrong!!!

The thing I don't like the most is how everyone is saying Cam never lied and in reality he DID!!! If you remeber old Nick Satan did the same!! LIED to all of us fans , so maybe I'm just be hard on Cam but I hope his chocies are the right ones and not mine!!!

j dizzle, you have to let the "liar" thing go. What do you expect Cam to say? The Trent deal was not done at the time and may not have been completed. He couldn't alienate CPep. He needed to keep CPep's moral up in case he was the starter. CPep was not harmed by his statements. Let's face it...you are hung up on the "liar" thing because of your feelings about CPep. In this business, you can't stand on morals. I'd love to hear how you wold have answered the QB questions at that time. Cam had no choice.

Yes he did have a choice!! All he had to say was " I don't plan on DC being on this team much longer and I also don't plan on giving him a chance to compete for the starting job!! I have already selected the starting QB for this team!!!!

Now don't that sound more like the truth!!!But its all said and done now so just like you said I just gotta get over it!! But Answer me this would it have been such a bad idea to let DC compete for the starting job?? I mean with the way things look now they are going to have to release him and get nothing. Whereas if he would've given him a chance to compete, every team would be able to get a look at him and would add some trade value!!! That's just too much like right!!!!

Come on Armanda...."No Comment" isn't much of an option. First the media would continue to ask the question until he provided a real response....because, second, the statement effectively indicates that he has something to hide (i.e replacing CPep), which is exactly what he needed to prevent from happening until the Green deal was done. The fact is everyone knew, including CPep, Cam's intention when they began discussing trading for Green.

Also, I felt the same way about Saban. He had little choice. He tried to be politically correct but the media would not let it go...so he made a more definitive statement about his intention which was obviously a lie. But the truth in that situation would not have done anyone any good.

The NFL is big business and teams are managed as such....they protect their interests. It's no different in the corporate world. Management tells you things when it's in their best interest. The only difference is that it is easier to keep things quiet...because there is no media. We all live it so get over it.

You know how I know that the team is being managed better? The players are showing respect for the management. They are actually worried about what flies out of their traps. JT will be fine he may finally grow up and just play football. JT you a defensive player in the NFL right now just concentrate in that.

Anonymous that was a horrible statement!! First do you know who JT is, only one of the best defensive players of all time!!! And his game speaks for itself so I don't think he has much concentrating to do!!!We should feel blessed he didn't retire on us this year!! And just because players aren't speaking freely doesn't make managment better!!!

Where does JT fit in on this list? Have you ever played team sports? NOBODY IS BIGGER THAN THE TEAM.BTW go to the Chiefs website and listen to the interviews with thier players. Spacifically Damon Huard. I would love for him to speak "freely" about the difference between his former team and his current one. They understand the TEAM concept. Thats what Green brings.JT is just juicing his next carrier, ala Keyshawn.I don't care who the QB,RB,DE,LB or punter is. Compete with the team you are playing, with honest respectable players and coaches. The rest sells ads for you.I just wanted to see how protected the TEAM was with Green.Things we Know, Green will be able to attack the whole field. NO coach ever coaches for a player to be hurt.I will go one further. The "scrambled eggs" coment is one of the worst statements ever made about a teamate EVER! Wait not really EVER is well um Forever and I don't believe that. How would JT like it if anybody in the world, much less a TEAM MATE, made light of any of his injuries? I bet you your 30 minute lunch break he would be pissed. I don't care if he made the statement about the waterboy. It just a HORRIBLE statement, wait war and starvation are horrible not sports smack. Oh and by the way if Green works out I already know who will be the first on the bandwagon. Good ole JT and J diz.

WOW buddy I really got you worked up there huh!!! Ok first of all I get an hour for lunch so get it right, second I promise you that JT will be on that list when he retires!! And I don't know where you live but I live in AMERICA where everyone has a thing called "FREEDOM OF SPEECH" meaning we can say what the hell we like without worry!!!AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST I"VE NEVER BEEN A BANDWAGON JUMPER!!!I'll do you one better I was born and raised in MIAMI FL so please get your facts straight before you swear that you're the biggest fan ever!!!I hope that Cam and scrambled eggs do prove me wrong, I'm not affraid to be wrong , but obviously you ARE thats why you never leave a name!! That way when what I'm saying becomes true you can start with the "I been saying they where making some bad decisions all along"!!!

And one more thing outta all those greats you named how many fall into JT's category??? None, JT has changed the way every scout, coach, and general manager look at defensive ends. Where you a fish fan when we got JT? Then you remeber all the talk about how he was too small, not strong enough for that position and here we are 11 seasons later and he's one of the best defensive players in pro football!!!

Um, that is a list of the current DLinemen Hall of Fame. So I don't think JT is the one in their catagory yet. I also never said JT was not a great player. You keep giving me a chance to say this. NOBODY is bigger than ANY TEAM. As I stated, I will watch every game and root for whoever the players are. Every year unless we sign TO or players like him, players that actually think they make the team great all buy themselves. Can one player put you over the edge? Yes if he is a Team player. I don't put my name down because I'm too lazy to fill out the form. Hell I don't even run the spell check or care about sentence fragments. I didn't claim to be the biggest fan EVER, and I was born in Broward County General Hospital, and was wearing a #39 jersy way before you were born. I also wore that number throughout my NCAA career until a good friend passed and I decided to wear his number.But that is all beside the point. Point is, great players are TEAM players and they don't make statements that make light of other peoples injuries to upstage the TEAM for any other reason. It's just bad taste.That just gives insight to were JT is mentally. The second you run over the sidelines and your are not looking at ways to beat the guy across from you and you are worried about if your QB is going to get hurt, your at a huge hanicap. Try making fun of somebody in your office that has an injury or disability and see how long you last. Your justification would be that you have exercised your freedom of speach? Give me a break.Go Phins! and I hope Trent Green is the starting QB in the pro bowl after his Super Bowl MVP. That is the mindset we all need to have. That is a true fanJdiz we should have a radio show. lolFrank

Oh one other thing I've been a Dolhfan my entire life as well it's a family tradition starting with my late grandmother!! She used to watch every game and be screaming and yelling at the TV. Talking bout " get that sucker" so I just fell in line!!! Now every Sunday during the season me and her spirit sit and watch the game and now I be saying "get that sucker" !!!GO PHINS!!!!

I'd like to believe that Trent Green's job next season will be the same as Don Strock or Earl Morrall's was as a backup to Dan Marino. Beck who looks to be our QB of the future and that will make Green our best backup the Dolphins have had since either Strock or Morrall played that role for Miami's championship teams

About this blog

Armando Salguero has covered South Florida sports for 25 years, starting as a 19-year-old in 1982. He's covered the Dolphins since 1990 and hosts a Dolphins hour show every weeknight 7-8 on 790 TheTicket (790theticket.com). He has worked nationally for ESPN and also writes sports columns for The Miami Herald.